Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Russian puppy trade horror
Furious owner’s probe into sick & cruel practices
Avet struggles to find a pulse in little Sasha, who lies motionless on a table before she heartbreakingly takes her last breath. The four-month-old pomeranian had arrived to new owners in the UK just 24 hours earlier – but was trembling, in pain and with fur matted.
She had endured a 3,500-mile trip by plane and car from Russia and looked nothing like the breeder’s glossy puppy pic.
Earlier this month we revealed how Love Island stars Molly-mae Hague and Tommy Fury had suffered a similar agony after their pomeranian Mr Chai died just days after he was imported by a different Russian breeder.
While there is no suggestion their dog had been maltreated and the pair believe he was already poorly, it is clear the fashion for certain breeds imported from Russia is leading to some unscrupulous breeders taking advantage.
A Mirror investigation can today lay bare the horrific conditions endured by some puppies, despite the transportation of the dogs still being legal.
Sasha’s owner was so enraged by her death that he began probing the puppy trade.
He approached a number of Russian breeders last year about importing dogs and slowly got to know the operation.
He was shocked to discover up to five dogs at a time endure 48 hours of travel by air and road with a “nanny” who brings them in a cramped cage.
Long-haired puppies are often shaved so their fur is less matted by excrement and urine on the journey. The dogs are “cleaned up” in the UK before being given to owners.
Puppies are sourced from across Russia for as little as £300 then sold in
They are a ticking time bomb of medical & surgical problems
MARC ABRAHAM ON SHIPPED IN PUPPIES
the UK for up to £6,000. Paperwork is at best unreliable and often faked. Instagram is used as a respectable front to lure customers in with pictures of pups which don’t exist – or in some cases have already died.
In April the Mirror-backed Lucy’s Law banning third-party dealers, such as pet shops and online traders, from selling puppies came into force.
It is designed to stop unscrupulous breeders having a route to market and to ensure a puppy cannot be sold without it having been seen with its mum in the place where it is born.
Sasha’s owner said: “There are only a handful of couriers. Often they are Russian but have UK citizenship. They fly often from Russia to Belgium. They rent a car to drive to the UK.”
He said the Russian breeders act more like re-sellers and “it’s impossible to trace the origin of many of these dogs. The paperwork and pedigree, too, is often highly suspect.
“People are easily manipulated into thinking they can get a lovely puppy from good parents.” The puppies must be four months old to come to the UK but Sasha’s owner found re-sellers lied about ages.
He said: “That’s when I realised the documents must be faked.”
In a final nasty twist, a picture of Sasha, which had been given by the breeders to her owner ahead of the trip to the UK, appeared online to advertise another dog after her death.
Marc Abraham, the founder of Lucy’s Law, said our probe “exposed a legal but immoral route to market.”
He said: “This is something the Government really need to look at and act. It’s cruelty on a huge scale but it’s all totally legal. It needs to change.”
Marc said how the thousands of miles travelled by the dogs left them in acute distress and often very sick.
He said: “Once they are travelling they are under unbelievable stress which makes them excrete and defecate more which in turn makes them transmit disease to each other. By the time they get to the end of their journey to England, they are a ticking time bomb of medical, surgical and behavioural disease.
“If they survive… they will no doubt have reduced life expectancy and require all sorts of potential therapies to fix them, whether that’s behaviour or medical or surgical operations. It’s a nightmare.” Sasha’s owner also believes that Elena Katerova, who runs Tiffany puppies and supplied the Love Island dog from her “network of reputable breeders”, may have been linked to the breeders he was investigating. He claims they were all advertising the same puppies for sale.
He said: “I was sent texts from Elena and a Russian breeder offering me the identical dog – but at vastly different prices.” The Mirror approached Ms Katerova with the evidence, but she declined to comment.
She has previously denied breaking rules and says she has “legitimate partners, family and resources in Russia” and clients see the mum and pup via videos.
A source close to Ms Katerova insisted she used her own licensed network of couriers, separate from those used by breeders to transport the dogs and that they uphold animal welfare regulations.
Ms Katerova has said: “I am truly devastated to learn about the death of Mr Chai. He was a beautiful young dog with a loving and playful temperament.
“I had watched him grow up, having regular video calls with his birth family. My heart goes out to Mollymae and Tommy.
“Mr Chai was a healthy dog. I only work with trusted people and have a small network of reputable breeders who care for their dogs to the very highest standards and see animals as part of their family.
“I have rigorous processes in place to check animal health and the suitability of forever homes providing support and guidance for health and wellbeing throughout. I have worked with dogs my entire life and this has never happened before.”
Molly-mae has previously said they were assured “the dog was of full health and had all his vaccinations. We are not animal killers.
“If we had the time again we would have got a dog from the UK.”